COVID-19: UK reports 24,950 new coronavirus cases - sixth consecutive daily fall

The UK has reported 24,950 new cases of COVID-19 in the latest 24-hour period.

It means the number of COVID cases reported in the UK has fallen for the sixth consecutive day.

Fourteen deaths were reported during the same period.

Some 29,173 cases and 28 deaths were reported yesterday. Last Monday, 39,950 cases and 72 deaths were recorded.

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Paul Hunter, professor of health protection and medicine at the University of East Anglia, said the fall in cases over the last week "was certainly likely".

But he added: "The issue is, though, that we don't know yet what the balance of probability is with the opening of venues with Freedom Day (19 July), but on the other hand schools breaking up for the summer holidays, so it's actually quite difficult to judge exactly what the pressure will be, come the weekend.

"Personally, I think on balance we probably won't see much of an increase next weekend, but if we do it will probably be relatively short-lived.

"So I'm quite optimistic about the summer but we've still got the autumn and winter to get through, and we're undoubtedly going to see more cases as we move towards Christmas."

He warned that, by autumn, many of those people vaccinated early in the programme would see their protection start to wane, making predictions difficult.

Despite this, he said that he was "quite convinced" that easing the rules last week was "the right thing", adding it would "likely, ultimately, lead to lower longer term cases and deaths than we would have seen if we had opened up in the autumn."

Prof Hunter said the UK was "probably" at the point where the peak of this wave had passed but there could be no certainty until this weekend, when the impact of easing the rules would be clearer.

There are growing concerns that the vaccination programme has stalled among young people, with figures reported in The Times showing that a third of those aged 18 to 29 have not had their first dose.

Fewer than 60% of those aged 18 to 25 have had their first jab and the number of COVID-19 cases among those aged 16 to 24 is six times higher than among those aged 50 to 69.

Earlier, a YouGov poll was published showing that the use of face masks among young people had slumped since England's restrictions were ended a week ago.

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The survey found 46% of 18 to 24-year-olds said they wore a face mask in a public place in the last two weeks, compared to 58% on 16 July and 64% on 2 June.

The survey of 1,742 British adults between July 21 and 22 found the rate of face mask use in other age groups had changed very little: 69% of Britons said they wore a face mask in the last two weeks, compared to 71% on 16 July and 73% on 2 June.

Meanwhile, it has been reported that university students could need to be fully vaccinated against coronavirus to attend lectures and stay in halls this coming academic year.

"We aren't ruling it out," a senior government source told Sky News about the prospect of mandating vaccination passports for universities.